Both players started the third round one shot back from Antoine Rozner and they each posted six birdies – three on the front nine and three on the back, while Laporta’s only bogey came on the 11th hole with Hansen’s on the 15th, his first dropped shot in 51 hole on the Fire Course at Jumeirah Golf Estates.
Hansen made par on the final hole after first finding the buggy track with his approach shot and then pitching into the greenside bunker. He managed to get up and down from there to stay on 19 under par and Laporta joined him with a birdie on the last.
They are one shot clear of defending champion Rozner who got his round off to a flying start with a birdie on the first followed by a hole out eagle two on the third, but he gave two shots back with a double bogey on the fifth in a round of 69.
Finland’s Kalle Samooja is two shots back on 17 under par after a round of 68, with Rolex Series winners Min Woo Lee and Tommy Fleetwood sharing fifth position on 16 under par after rounds of 66 and 68 respectively. Lee posted six birdies and eagled the 13th hole to move into contention, while Fleetwood recovered from a two over par front nine with six birdies after the turn.
Ryder Cup players Martin Kaymer (65) and Bernd Wiesberger (68) share seventh place with Thailand’s Jazz Janewattananond (63) on 15 under par.
Player Quotes
Joachim B. Hansen: “It was very good from tee to green, the best I’ve ever played from tee to green. I missed a lot of good chances at the beginning and a few on the back nine. All in all five under is a good score but it could have been a lot better. The lie was alright with that third shot (at the last), but I got a bit too steep on it, but the fourth shot up to the pin was a nice one.
“I’m looking forward to tomorrow, we’ll see how that’s going to go. Hopefully it will be another beautiful day and we’ll see what happens in the end. I just need to stay patient, I had a lot of chances out there today, so just stay patient and see what happens.”
Antoine Rozner: “Today was tougher, definitely. I did not hit the ball as well as the other days. There were a few mistakes here and there and didn’t score on the easy holes. In the end it is not a disaster. It is three under and I am still in there in the mix and everything is up to tomorrow. I’m in there and that is what I wanted when I started this tournament and I have a chance.
“I definitely had an ideal start. I couldn’t dream of anything better than that. I had one horrible shot on the par five. I tried to hit one big three wood when I didn’t need to. Missed it and made a double. When you are in the mix you have to move forward and move on. I did that. Too bad I had a three putt on the par fie seven but the rest was actually ok. If I can score better on the easy ones I think I will have a good round tomorrow.”
Francesco Laporta: “It was a good day, it was a good fight with the other guys. It wasn’t easy this afternoon, it was pretty windy and the greens were getting firmer so I’m really happy with my score.
“It’s obviously the third round, and we were all in contention so there was more pressure than the other two days, and it was more windy so it was the toughest day of the week.
“My game is pretty good actually. I didn’t the irons very solid like the other to days, so we’re going to work on that this afternoon on the range. But I’ll keep everything, my driver is in good shape and my putting is getting so I’ll try keep that going tomorrow.”
Kalle Samooja: “It’s a good score, it wasn’t pretty today but I’ll take it and it looks like I’m close enough for a big battle tomorrow.
“I think the first two days I’ve been playing really well, hitting the ball well, putting well, but today I was a little off, not sure if it was the heat or my body was a little off. But there’s always going to be one OK round in four rounds so I need to find it for tomorrow, what was working for the first two days and it will be OK.
“My body wasn’t as sharp as it was in the first few days and I thnk that’s clearly the issue, the timing was a little off and it’s hard to hit good golf shots. But I holed some good putts on the back nine and kept myself in the game.”
Tommy Fleetwood: “Lucky that I like the back nine! It was just a tale of two nines, including yesterday. The front nine was pretty shocking, especially today, just all of it. None of it was there, but to make the turn and start off like that, a couple of good shots on ten and 11.
“I just had it going, and it’s funny how it works like that. The back nine has been very good to me, even on Thursday when I started on the back nine and made plenty of birdies on it. I’ve just got to make sure that continues and make a better job of the front nine really.
“After nine holes, the finish the day on that score is amazing really, very pleased. I’d like to be top but I can’t be too picky about where I stand, walking onto that tenth tee. There were still 27 holes left, and no matter what, you’ve got to play all 27 so you might as well give it your best attitude.
“I’m just really happy that I could get something going and play the way I did. Then you go into tomorrow, I can’t do anything about what those guys do. Someone could finish with an eagle, someone could shoot 60 tomorrow, but that’s not my problem.
“All I can do is do what I did on the back nine today and try do that for a full round, but there’s been a lot of good golf in there and I’ve got to take that into tomorrow.”
Round Three scores
197 J HANSEN (DEN) 63 67 67, F LAPORTA (ITA) 66 64 67,
198 A ROZNER (FRA) 65 64 69,
199 K SAMOOJA (FIN) 67 64 68,
200 M LEE (AUS) 67 67 66, T FLEETWOOD (ENG) 66 66 68,
201 J JANEWATTANANOND (THA) 70 68 63, M KAYMER (GER) 69 67 65, B WIESBERGER (AUT) 67 66 68,
202 A MERONK (POL) 72 67 63, P CASEY (ENG) 68 68 66, P HARRINGTON (IRL) 68 67 67, E MOLINARI (ITA) 69 66 67, S CROCKER (USA) 67 66 69, P WARING (ENG) 65 67 70,
203 N COLSAERTS (BEL) 70 69 64, M LORENZO-VERA (FRA) 67 70 66, M JORDAN (ENG) 69 67 67, A SULLIVAN (ENG) 65 71 67, D COUPLAND (ENG) 67 69 67, T OLESEN (DEN) 67 68 68, N LEMKE (SWE) 67 67 69, S HORSFIELD (ENG) 67 67 69,
204 C WOOD (ENG) 71 68 65, F ZANOTTI (PAR) 69 69 66, M KORHONEN (FIN) 68 70 66, M ARMITAGE (ENG) 68 69 67, J CATLIN (USA) 69 67 68, C SHINKWIN (ENG) 66 69 69, D VAN TONDER (RSA) 69 66 69, S JAMIESON (SCO) 69 65 70, D BURMESTER (RSA) 65 68 71,
205 M KIEFFER (GER) 68 71 66, A CA?IZARES (ESP) 69 70 66, R LANGASQUE (FRA) 69 68 68, S SODERBERG (SWE) 69 68 68, J GUERRIER (FRA) 67 70 68, M PAVON (FRA) 69 67 69, R MACINTYRE (SCO) 68 68 69, A BJ?RK (SWE) 69 67 69, O FARR (WAL) 69 66 70, Z LOMBARD (RSA) 66 69 70, R ROUSSEL (FRA) 69 64 72,
206 S GALLACHER (SCO) 70 69 67, N ELVIRA (ESP) 69 69 68, J SCRIVENER (AUS) 67 70 69, J SENIOR (ENG) 70 66 70, G MIGLIOZZI (ITA) 68 68 70,
207 D FICHARDT (RSA) 66 71 70, T PULKKANEN (FIN) 70 67 70, G FORREST (SCO) 69 65 73,
208 D LAW (SCO) 70 69 69, J HARDING (RSA) 70 69 69, V PEREZ (FRA) 70 68 70, A QUIROS (ESP) 67 71 70, J SMITH (ENG) 69 68 71, J LAGERGREN (SWE) 70 66 72, A CHESTERS (ENG) 68 66 74,
209 K BROBERG (SWE) 67 72 70, S V?LIM?KI (FIN) 71 68 70, D GAVINS (ENG) 69 70 70, M KINHULT (SWE) 72 66 71, J WINTHER (DEN) 72 66 71, J CALDWELL (NIR) 71 67 71, M KAWAMURA (JPN) 69 67 73,
211 H PORTEOUS (RSA) 69 70 72, J CAMPILLO (ESP) 71 64 76,
213 J MORRISON (ENG) 68 70 75,
214 J STALTER (FRA) 71 68 75,
